Jesus told a little story to those who trusted in themselves that they were just and as a result looked with contempt on other people. The story is very simple. A religious person parades their goodness before God and compares himself over-favorably against others. A tax collector, a collaborator with the domination system, simply asks for God’s mercy. The punch line of the story is that “those who exalt themselves will be humbled and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
I take the story to be about two things: self-examination and natural consequences.
First: self-examination. We can dodge these little stories of Jesus in this way: “Ah, Jesus told this story to the proud. Clearly not me, so I can ignore it!” It is much better to see the story addressed to each of us. It is a story for self-examination (as all the aphorisms of Jesus are). A great part of the spiritual life is a daily self-examination. That is why in the evening office there is space for recollection of the day and prayers for forgiveness. Socrates told us, “The unexamined life is not worth living.”
To use this story for self-examination is simply to apply it to your self. It is a fearless look inside with the question, “Am I like that?” “Do I think too much of myself at the expense of others?” It is not always to put yourself down. It is to be realistic. When we find things not as they should be, we seek God’s help to change, to be different. It is a personal spiritual exercise to help us to grow and to change. So far as I can see, all those we consider “spiritual giants” had this practice.
Yet, we have to be careful. Self-examination can turn to morbidity. Morbidity comes from the Latin for disease. To become morbid is to focus too much on the disease and self-examination, when out of balance, focuses on the inner disease, the disease of the self. That is not helpful at all. It is most dangerous for those of us who have a very low self-worth to begin with. So, self-examination, yes; self-degradation no. Care is needed.
It is also a story about natural consequences. All of our actions and attitudes have natural consequences. The story is a nod in the direction of karma, of reaping what we sow. When we are kind, kindness rebounds to us, though we are not kind for that reason. When we love, we are loved, though we do not love for that reason. When we cheat we will be cheated against. If we constantly tell lies, we will no longer be trusted. When we push ourselves to the top at the expense of others, be prepared for a fall! Yet, when we see ourselves in the proper light and do not hold contempt for others, look down on them, see ourselves as “better than,” when honor comes to us it comes as gift, as grace.
I take the story to be about two things: self-examination and natural consequences.
First: self-examination. We can dodge these little stories of Jesus in this way: “Ah, Jesus told this story to the proud. Clearly not me, so I can ignore it!” It is much better to see the story addressed to each of us. It is a story for self-examination (as all the aphorisms of Jesus are). A great part of the spiritual life is a daily self-examination. That is why in the evening office there is space for recollection of the day and prayers for forgiveness. Socrates told us, “The unexamined life is not worth living.”
To use this story for self-examination is simply to apply it to your self. It is a fearless look inside with the question, “Am I like that?” “Do I think too much of myself at the expense of others?” It is not always to put yourself down. It is to be realistic. When we find things not as they should be, we seek God’s help to change, to be different. It is a personal spiritual exercise to help us to grow and to change. So far as I can see, all those we consider “spiritual giants” had this practice.
Yet, we have to be careful. Self-examination can turn to morbidity. Morbidity comes from the Latin for disease. To become morbid is to focus too much on the disease and self-examination, when out of balance, focuses on the inner disease, the disease of the self. That is not helpful at all. It is most dangerous for those of us who have a very low self-worth to begin with. So, self-examination, yes; self-degradation no. Care is needed.
It is also a story about natural consequences. All of our actions and attitudes have natural consequences. The story is a nod in the direction of karma, of reaping what we sow. When we are kind, kindness rebounds to us, though we are not kind for that reason. When we love, we are loved, though we do not love for that reason. When we cheat we will be cheated against. If we constantly tell lies, we will no longer be trusted. When we push ourselves to the top at the expense of others, be prepared for a fall! Yet, when we see ourselves in the proper light and do not hold contempt for others, look down on them, see ourselves as “better than,” when honor comes to us it comes as gift, as grace.